“Though he has been on a list of candidates for the post since the beginning of the administration, officials said Mr. Trump has hesitated, in part because of his negative reaction to Mr. Bolton’s walrus-style mustache.” It’s another almost comical detail from the Trump White House, but it’s related to an appointment that has left no one laughing. NYT: McMaster is out and John Bolton is Trump’s third national security advisor.

+ I know there’s a decent joke here about keeping a stiff upper lip, but I’m too nervous about this news to come up with it. And I’m not alone. From Fred Kaplan in Slate: It’s Time to Panic Now. And from The New Yorker’s Robin Wright: The New Warmonger in the White House. Meanwhile, Trump has considered the idea of firing John Kelly and moving forward without a chief of staff.